


...and I thank you

by KahunaBurger



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Captain America: The First Avenger, Gen, George M Cohan, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, references to old movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 18:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14899382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KahunaBurger/pseuds/KahunaBurger
Summary: In which there is a brass band at the Stark Expo, and Bucky finds the right thing to say thanks to a dancing gangster.





	...and I thank you

All Bucky wanted was a nice night with his best friend and a couple of sweet dames before he shipped out, but of course Stevie could sniff out a recruitment office even on a fun night out and now they were fighting.

“You can’t keep doing this! You’re gonna get arrested!” It was on the tip of his tongue to say that a even worse outcome might be someone being desperate enough to let him in, even though he knew it would start a bigger fight, when the small band near them started up a new song.

The familiar notes of Over There sparked a memory and he changed his tack. “You know, that guy was an F-4, too.”

Stevie blinked, thrown off of whatever impassioned argument he was about to make. “Who, the conductor?”

“No! Well, I dunno, maybe? But no, the composer, Cohan. They showed us that movie about him when we managed to earn some R&R last month. Yankee Doodle Dandy?”

“Oh, yeah, with Cagney. You made jokes about dancing gangsters when I wanted to see it.”

“Yeah, it turned out to be pretty good.” In retrospect, Bucky really wished he hadn’t insisted on seeing something else back then. “But when the war broke out, George went to enlist and they wouldn’t let him in. He threw a big fuss about it, but he didn’t qualify, and the recruiter was a fan of his, told him he’d do more good on the homefront than over there. Next scene, he’s performing the song at a rally.”

“Nice.” Stevie smiled at the image. “He did a lot of patriotic songs, didn’t he?”

“Songs, shows, everything.” Bucky started subtly turning them away from the recruitment office. “At the end of the film, the President gave him a medal for his aid in winning the war.”

“Oh, they made that up!”

“Nope, our Drill Sergeant told us it was true, even though they got the name of it wrong. Think about it - hundreds, probably thousands of guys enlisted because of him who might have hung back if he didn’t get them stirred up. And he got the folks at home more enthusiastic about doing their part with the rationing and such.” Bucky tried to keep his tone light, not let him see how important this was to him. “He did way more for the war than he would have as one more schmuck with a gun. And he’s still doing it now after he’s dead.”

Stevie nodded, seemingly deep in thought, but as Bucky tried to steer them towards the main stage, his friend ducked out from under his arm and turned back. “You go catch up with the girls, I’ll see you after.”

He groaned in frustration, almost just left in a huff, but then he noticed that Stevie wasn’t grabbing forms, and moved a little closer so he could hear.

“Naw, I’m, uh, I’m F-4. Scoliosis.” And a dozen other problems, but unbending his back was about the only thing he didn’t believe he could do if he just tried hard enough. Still, hearing him admit it right off the bat was some kinda miracle. “No, I, uh, I noticed your table is sort of boring for the event. I’m… I sketch a lot in my spare time, I wondered if you wanted any help with, uh, posters and stuff?”

Bucky waited just long enough to be sure that the clerk appreciated the help on offer and headed off to find his dates. He deserved to enjoy his last night before he shipped out after all, not get wrangled into washing brushes. But even with the uncertainties of war ahead of him, he felt a lot better about leaving than he had at the evening’s start.

Though he hoped if the paints weren’t labeled, that Stevie would admit to being color-blind...

**Author's Note:**

> Yankee Doodle Dandy is a fantastic old movie about the life of the King of Broadway, George M Cohan, and was in fact out in the theaters during the time of Steve's enlistment spree. While I'm not sure if the scene of him trying to enlist for WWI is accurate, he did receive a Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions to patriotism and morale - the first entertainer to get the award.
> 
> In the movie Cohan was rejected for his age, which I'm not sure is an F-4 as opposed to another rejection code, but Bucky was trying to make a point.
> 
> James Cagney was known as an action star in gangster films when he was cast as the singing, dancing showman, but pretty much all actors of that age were expected to be triple threats and he did great.
> 
> A COUPLE MORE NOTES :
> 
> Several comments (mostly rude ones that have been removed) have accused me of trying to eliminate Captain America with this fic. Since Steve ends the story volunteering at the exact same recruitment office where he meets Erskine in the movie, my intent was to actually leave the question of whether he will still catch the eye of the SSR and receive the serum open ended. 
> 
> The line about Bucky considering it worse for Steve to be enlisted than arrested is based on his canon dialog.


End file.
